Campfire
by dolly-dear
Summary: Sora's a good storyteller...


**Campfire**

"Ri-Ri!" Eight year old Selphie called out, in her small, girly voice.

"Wh-what…Selphie… Can't you just go to sleep?" A sleeping figure stirred, and asked groggily. He was just falling asleep, too…

"But cousin Riku… We're not sleepy!" Tidus answered, pulling off a girly puppy-dog pout.

Riku rolled his eyes. Why couldn't his young cousins just accept the fact the not everyone had as much energy as they did?

"C'mon Riku… just do something with them… I wanna go back to sleep…" Riku looked down. The boy next to him yawned tiredly, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Oh, no you don't, Sora! If I have to stay awake, so do you!" He poked Sora in his chest, making the boy open his cerulean eyes, annoyed.

"Grr…"

Riku grinned tiredly as Sora sat up…only to lie back down, propped on his elbows, as his head collided with the fabric of the tent the four were supposed to be sleeping in.

Sora looked over at the twins, Selphie and Tidus. Oh why had he agreed to come with Riku on this supposedly "Bonding" camping trip? It wasn't even him who Riku was going to be bonding with!

"Well, if you two are going to be like that, let's go outside. It's too cramped in here for anything else but sleeping…" Sora said, starting to pull on his shirt and unzip the tent door.

_Oh great_, Riku thought, _this means we're just gonna be up later. _

Once they were all outside, Riku looked around. The forest looked much different at night than it did during the day. The full moon cast dark shadows on anything its reflected light could reach, and the branches of trees seemed to stretch abnormally long, giving them the appearance of arms reaching for prey.

"Riku…Go look for some fire wood." Sora ordered, while he searched though a bag he brought for some matches.

"As if I can see anything…" Riku retorted.

Sora acted as if he hadn't heard, and continued searching. They were both tired, and neither wanted to be awake more than the other.

Selphie and Tidus watched excitedly. Wood? Matches? Their cousin was going to start a fire! Fires were always so much fun to watch! The tongues of the flame jumping out and destroying everything that happened to be in the way!

Riku stumbled around, hoping his foot would bump into anything that could be used at fuel for the fire. Too bad he had no flashlight. He had already collected a few sticks, but that wasn't going to do anything.

There! He picked up three or four logs that he remembered putting somewhere earlier, just in case.

He carried them back to where Sora and his cousins were waiting, and Sora held something that could only be the small pack of matches.

Riku sat the logs down, and arranged them in a small circle that, in the sunlight, you could see was somewhat burnt, having been the area used for previous campers' fires.

Sora stuck a match and held it in place for a while, and then shook it to make it go out as the wood caught fire.

They all gathered around the fire, Selphie in Sora's lap and Tidus in Riku's.

"What now, Ri-Ri?" Selphie asked, looking expectantly at her older cousin.

"I dunno, Selph, ask Sora..." He answered, looking in turn to Sora.

"Well, I was thinking you guys might enjoy a ghost story!" he said, grinning.

"A ghost story, huh? Don't you think that'll just keep them awake?" Riku asked, whispering the last part in his friend's ear.

"Nah, unless _you're _too scared, Riku!" Sora said, his smile widening, if that was possible.

"Whatever..." Riku muttered, and settled back, so the eight year old on his lap didn't seem so heavy.

"Well... it was a very long time ago, one dark night-"

"_Boring," _Riku said, poorly disgusing it as a cough.

"Hmph! If you think you can do better, Riku!" Sora said, before continuing.

"Like I was saying, a long time ago, there were these miners. They had to work an extra shift that night, and none of them were very happy about it. I think there were at least 24 of them, working in that hole. Around nine o'clock though, something happened."

"..." Selphie and Tidus were staring intently at Sora. Riku was very mildly interested, but he had to agree that Sora immediatly seemed to bring the words to life.

"You see, they were all pretty fed up with each other, with all the complaining and bickering. They were all tired, as well. They were about to go home, too, so a few of them were already lined up near the lift. Finally, though, it was time to leave. The small lift only held a few people, and some of the coal they had mined that day, so sixteen of them were left behind while the 8 going up unloaded. The lift always takes a while, so after a few minutes, the miners weren't worried. Of course, maybe if they had been worried, they'd have been saved from their fate."

The two youngest drew in a sharp gasp, and even Riku was hooked by now.

"They all hung back, away from the lift, after all, they were tired, and there was no place to sit near the entrance. But then..." Sora paused for dramatic effect, and by now Selphie and Tidus were off the boys' laps and hugging each other madly, and Riku's eyes were very wide, as well... "The mine collapsed! They yelled and yelled, but to no avail! Their equipment was either useless, or had been taken up on the lift! When the rocks finally settled, they had only the light of the oil lamp, and that would not last long, either. First, they just sat, not talking much, but all were sure that someone would be bursting through that wall of rubbel any minute now, to rescue them."

"But after what seemed like days, even if had only been a few hours, they became frantic. They started trying to claw their way out of the trapping mine, which I'm sure seemed to be closing in on them, as the lamp failed. Even after the light was out, they continued their poor attempt to dig their way to freedom."

"This time, days really did pass. Days, to weeks, to months... They lived off rats, not really noticing the time going by. There were still sure that their friends and family were looking for them, and that they were still trying to get them out, but they were just having a hard time. Amazingly, they lasted without water for a very long time, seeing as their supply went out very quickly. They lived like this for about 5 years. Five full years! Can you imagine? Sheer will must have kept them alive, though many went insane. They didn't do anything down there, they talked little, and there was no light to do anything by. They tried lighting a fire with the wood from their old tools, but it lasted for only little."

"When the sixth year rolled around they were still ignorant of the fact that everyone took them for dead. They still didn't realise the swiftly passing time. Sometime along the way though they started... to EAT each other!"

Selphie let out a small squeak, and the other two gasped again. They all leaned in to hear the rest.

"They were starving, and rats were begining to become scare. Six of the eighteen had already died, and their bones were all that was left, so six of them teamed up and attacked the others in their sleep. Now there were only six of the miners who should have been dead. On the 13th year, it finally hit them. Noone was coming to save them. Oh, they were angry. This time, they clawed at the rocks with renewed force, furious at the people that they had loved doubting them like that. Monsters, they were. Even more than when they killed the others."

"The monsters finally got out, their anger fueling them like never before. It was day time, and they were in the middle of a forest. When they looked around at each other, they saw how pitiful they all looked. And something else that truely drove them over the fine line of sanity. The pupils, and the irises of their eyes... were gone! Nothing but white, and it was very difficult to see, the light seemed so much brighter! They had been so used to the dark, their eyes were unnaccustomed to the light. When one of them finally looked up into the sun, he screamed. It was unbearable! They crawled back into the hole that had been their home for 13 years."

"Until night, they made plans. Plans to take their revenge on the people who abandoned them. And when the dark finally came, they set out. They killed each and every one of the people who left them for dead, and their own families as well. Of course, it was not enough. They needed more. The monsters stayed alive for years. In fact I believe they are still alive today! Killing all the descendants of the miners who forgot them, and anyone else they happened to come across... And did you hear? A few weeks ago, a man was mawled to death in this forrest. He had been hiking. Everyone though it was a bear, until they discovered something frighteningly awful..."

Everyone drew in a breath, and Riku was shaking like crazy now, though he would never admit it. Sora was enjoying this reaction.

"The bite marks, and the scratches, were... HUMAN!"

Tidus and Selphie squeaked this time, and Riku's jaw dropped, but no eyes were taken off of Sora.

"So... now, at night, they will attack anyone and everyone they come across... So, keep close when you fall asleep at night. And beware... THE WHITE EYED FREAKS!" Sora yelled, and shined a flashlight on his face, his eyes wide, and he was very close to Riku's face. Riku yelled loudly, and jumped back, along with the two younger ones.

Sora fell over laughing. "Riku you should have seen the look on your face! Hah! I wish I had a camera!" he said, wiping a gleeful tear from his eye.

Riku was dumbfounded. "That...that wasn't funny Sora!" Riku said, getting up off the ground, and brushing himself off.

"Heh, sorry Riku," Sora said, standing up. "Come on, kids, time to get in bed!"

"Okay!" Selphie and Tidus said happily, as if the chilling story had no effect on them.

_Stupid little kids... _Riku thought.

Later that night, when the other three were asleep, Riku lay awake. _Just a story, nothing more... Fake fake fake. Not real... _

Riku was in pieces. That was just a stupid ghost story Sora made up. Honestly, no one could live that long! There hasn't been a mine here for nearly 100 years!

He realized how stupid he must sound. Trying to prove to himself that a ghost story wasn't real! Really, he was The Riku! Not afraid of anything! Riku shook his head, and rolled over, trying to go to sleep again.

When he had finally fallen asleep, he heard a sound. Like the cracking of wood beneath... a foot! He lifted his head and looked around. _Selphie... Tidus... Oh no! Where's Sora?!_

Careful not to wake up the younger ones, Riku stepped out of the tent. He looked around; there was still light from the fire they had forgotten to put out. Nothing else, except for the creepy branches and the whisper of the wind in the dried leaves. But there! That sound again! It was closer! He whirled around in the direction he heard it from, but there was nothing.

Remembering who he was out here to look for, Riku walked around the site, not leaving the comfort of the faint light of the fading fire. "Sora?" He said as loud as he dared. Jusr then, he felt something grab his shoulder, and a soft voice whispered in his ear:

"Boo."

Riku screamed and tried to escape the laughing attacker's grasp. Wait... Laughing?

"Sora!" He said, looking closer into his friend's face.

"Haha, I apologize Riku," Sora said, still giggling. "Couldn't resist! I knew that story creeped you out!"

"Okay, fine. It did. Shoot me." Riku said, heading back to the tent.

"I'm sorry Riku," Sora said.

"It's okay..." Riku answered, and climbed into his sleeping bag next to Sora's, when they were inside the tent. When both had nearly fallen asleep, he added:

"No more ghost stories, though."

* * *

Okay, this was based on a story my 5th grade math teacher told us. And gosh, my reaction was quite similar to Riku's! At the end she did something similar to what Sora did. She put on these really big fake all-white eyes and screamed and shined the flashlight on her face. (Half the grade was packed like sardines in the supply closet, with the lights off) I miss that teacher. She was cool. After the story, we went and played some games outside with teams. Of course, my team decided to name itself "The White Eyed Freaks," much to my discomfort. I refused to go in the forest near the school when the ball was lost in it. I couldn't go outside after dark for nearly a month. Ahh, good times. Back when I was so easily scared. x.x But really, she made it seem so dang true!

This was supposed to be out for Halloween, but I fell behind schedule, sorry.


End file.
